Back to Clay Part 2!
Complete With Blue!
At last( like wayy last year), I finished my first out door sculpture and it was exciting to work on this project using fibre glass and bold colours, it was great and very challenging. At my last meeting with my client I kinda hoped he would change his mind and settle for another sketch which I had planned to contract to someone else cos I felt it was beyond me, I needed an excuse not to do this job but at the end I'm really proud of myself and I realise that there's so much I could do if only I push myself.
It was tough and at some point I thought I wouldn't meet the deadline. I asked the client for 3 weeks to get this work done, it should take less time but just in case. I have never done an abstract sculpture of this size before and the closest I ever did was in college which was like 4 years ago and with very different scenarios. For 1 it was a cement cast and 2 it was a seated human figure.
Here I had to deal with the issue of balance and not just visually, lots of calculations were done and I had to get it right. On one hand I couldn't afford to make the sculpture too light because of winds as it was to be situated in an open and slightly windy location and to be placed on a pedestal and I also couldn't make it too heavy for the sake of balance, it had to be jussst right.
Thankfully I had help from a colleague who helped speed things up since we were pressed on time. Nothing good comes easy and so of course we had our share of hindrances but it was all worth while.
Finishing is the part where I like to give my best both in the clay work, just before casting and on the sculpture just before painting. There was a lot of sanding to do and the joints had to look and feel right, so much so that one couldn't guess where the joints were, now that's a good finish!
Painting was a choking experience as I was using Autobase paint for the first time, its the best option for an outdoor sculpture but also very toxic. With all my gadgets to protect me from the fumes I had to take 5 minutes breaks in between, it was terrible, so it took me 2 days to get the painting done and the night between these two days, I ran to my sister's house to spend the night, there was no way I could sleep at home with all those fumes in the air.
At last, at last its over and it was a good 3 weeks experience of hard work and the choking smell of resin and paint, the sculpture came out great with good finishing and no worries about balance, it was jussst right!
I delivered right on schedule and best of all, this sculpture had colours and not the usual brownish bronzey look most sculptures around have.
I'm blessed to be an artist!
Coming up next would be my reportage on my trip to Japan (way past due)!
Complete With Blue!
At last( like wayy last year), I finished my first out door sculpture and it was exciting to work on this project using fibre glass and bold colours, it was great and very challenging. At my last meeting with my client I kinda hoped he would change his mind and settle for another sketch which I had planned to contract to someone else cos I felt it was beyond me, I needed an excuse not to do this job but at the end I'm really proud of myself and I realise that there's so much I could do if only I push myself.
It was tough and at some point I thought I wouldn't meet the deadline. I asked the client for 3 weeks to get this work done, it should take less time but just in case. I have never done an abstract sculpture of this size before and the closest I ever did was in college which was like 4 years ago and with very different scenarios. For 1 it was a cement cast and 2 it was a seated human figure.
Here I had to deal with the issue of balance and not just visually, lots of calculations were done and I had to get it right. On one hand I couldn't afford to make the sculpture too light because of winds as it was to be situated in an open and slightly windy location and to be placed on a pedestal and I also couldn't make it too heavy for the sake of balance, it had to be jussst right.
Thankfully I had help from a colleague who helped speed things up since we were pressed on time. Nothing good comes easy and so of course we had our share of hindrances but it was all worth while.
 |
| "Get that camera away from me ...!" |
Finishing is the part where I like to give my best both in the clay work, just before casting and on the sculpture just before painting. There was a lot of sanding to do and the joints had to look and feel right, so much so that one couldn't guess where the joints were, now that's a good finish!
Painting was a choking experience as I was using Autobase paint for the first time, its the best option for an outdoor sculpture but also very toxic. With all my gadgets to protect me from the fumes I had to take 5 minutes breaks in between, it was terrible, so it took me 2 days to get the painting done and the night between these two days, I ran to my sister's house to spend the night, there was no way I could sleep at home with all those fumes in the air.
 |
| At its final location |
At last, at last its over and it was a good 3 weeks experience of hard work and the choking smell of resin and paint, the sculpture came out great with good finishing and no worries about balance, it was jussst right!
I delivered right on schedule and best of all, this sculpture had colours and not the usual brownish bronzey look most sculptures around have.
I'm blessed to be an artist!
Coming up next would be my reportage on my trip to Japan (way past due)!
